Robber Who Killed 2 Executed In Florida

STARKE, Fla. (AP) -- A Florida man convicted of killing two female co-workers by beating them with a hammer and setting them ablaze during a robbery at the store where they worked has been executed.

Authorities say 55-year-old Robert L. Henry was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. following a lethal injection Thursday at the Florida State Prison.

He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the Nov. 2, 1987, slayings of 53-year-old Phyllis Harris and 35-year-old Janet Thermidor at the Cloth World store in Deerfield Beach. Authorities said he stole $1,269 from the fabric store.

STARKE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida executes man who killed 2 women by beating them with a hammer, setting them on fire.

News Release: Associated Press NewsUpdated: March 20, 2014, 6pm

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON

STARKE, Fla. (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for the execution in Florida of a man convicted of killing two co-workers with a hammer and setting them on fire during a robbery.

The justices rejected the final appeal of Robert L. Henry, who was scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison in Starke. His appeal was a challenge to one of the drugs used in Florida's execution procedure.

Henry was convicted of the murders of 53-year-old Phyllis Harris and 35-year-old Janet Thermidor at a Deerfield Beach fabric store in November 1987. Thermidor lived long enough to identify Henry for police.

News Release: Associated Press News

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A March 20 execution date has been set for a Florida man who attacked two women with a hammer and set them on fire, killing them both.

Gov. Rick Scott signed a death warrant Thursday for 55-year-old Robert L. Henry. He was convicted of the November 1987 slayings of Phyllis Harris and Janet Thermidor in Broward County.

Henry worked with the victims at a fabric store. According to the governor's office, Henry told Harris the store was being robbed and he had been told to blindfold her and lock her in the men's room. Then Henry attacked Thermidor with the hammer and robbed the store himself.

Later he came back, used flammable liquid to set Thermidor on fire, then attacked Harris with the hammer and set her on fire.

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